As a first-timer travelling in another part of the world, I literally activated my five senses to accommodate all that I would see, hear, feel, taste, and smell.
And here's what I sensed for one week…
What I Saw
The most remarkable thing I saw in Delhi was that almost all the cars and rickshaws have dents. I won't wonder why. The drivers at Delhi really drive so fast that a rickshaw ride was like a roller-coaster ride. Aside from the dents, they were really dirty. I've seen muddy cars roaming around the city. I couldn't imagine how the car owners can afford to buy cars, which are not really cheap, but cannot afford some time and water to clean their cars. It's none of my business, but well, I am just wondering, anyway.
The buildings or most structures are dirty and old. The streets are dirty. We were even amazed to have seen one lady sweeping the floor in the market. We thought Indians love dirt. Even signages don't get painted nor cleaned. I don't understand why the buildings in Delhi don't get renovated but the temples are well-maintained.
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No lady from Delhi, as far as I've seen, wears shorts, sleeveless blouses, short skirt, or any clothes of that kind. All of them wear the same thing -- long dresses with shawl. I just failed to ask them what it is called. Good thing about this dress is that guys don't have to stare at anyone because every woman wears the same cut, same style -- no skin to stare at.
A kind of vehicle that was transporting children to and from school also caught my attention. Of course there were also other transport services for children but this one caught my attention. This one that I have taken photo was not yet crowded. Some were really crowded -- that the children found it hard to even breathe because they were so many in one service. I also wondered how hard it was to drive this with many students standing on the small and open back seat.
The public utility vehicle in India is called rickshaw. I read about this even before I went to Delhi but I had a different kind of experience from actually using this kind of PUV. Most rickshaws, if not all, in Delhi look dirty, not to mention the drivers who are also very untidy. Drivers have uniform -- same cut, same color, same shade: dirty blue (if there is such a shade).
I saw lots of birds -- black ones-- in the city. Of course, not to mention cows roaming around town. The Indians consider cows as sacred. At the mosque, I've seen a bunch of squirrels. I haven't seen one before. Squirrels (looks like chipmunks) can quickly run around and go to the top of buildings and trees -- just like Alvin in the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks :-) 
On the brighter side of sight, well, Le Meridien Hotel, the venue for the conference, was physically okay. I like the design of the hotel -- it's more of a minimalist design -- not too many colors (only black, white, silver) and no unnecessary clutter. The hotel was clean and good.
What I Heard
You won't believe me. My morning (for all the days I stayed there) started and ended with a sound like Beep! Beep! From the hotel where I stayed, I could hear the cars' and rickshaws' loud Beep! Beep! In chorus. I had a much louder and endless (almost no dead air) Beep! Beep! when we were outside the hotel. I don't understand why there is a need for too many Beep! Beep! It seemed like all drivers wanted to be on the same side of the road at the same time.
What's more -- I've observed the traffic lights turning into red but the cars and rickshaws didn't stop (lol). And in another day when traffic lights turned into red, it only did so for like 5 seconds. After 5 seconds, green again! (more lol). Hearing those Beep! sounds made us nervous in crossing the streets. We were like holding each other tight while we were crossing the streets, taking care not to be hit by any vehicle. We even saw a group of friends crossing the street and when they did so, they were like in a maze at Takeshi's Castle as they avoided any rickshaw or car that might hit them anytime.
On the brighter side, I also can't forget the sound of the Indian song being played in the powder room at Le Meridien Hotel. The song was very soothing to the ears. When I heard another background music at a fast food we dined in, I also noticed the music was very laid back. I guess the music is one way to release stress after being in the middle of the busy streets in Delhi.
The best thing I heard while I was in Delhi was the fine voice of the guest speaker at the conference. His name is Shashi Tharoor. He's the Minister of State for External Affairs for the government of India. Tharoor is a good speaker who can answer questions sensibly.
What I Smelled
Speaking of smell, I have no exact description of how it smelled like in Delhi -- especially in markets. In one area, I smelled a particular food being sold. It smelled like old cooking oil which was used maybe a hundred times. I can't explain, really. With this kind of smell on the street, I didn't wonder why there were so many flies flying in the middle of the street.
In one area, while we were walking, I had to cover my nose because if I didn't I might throw up. I was just so shy to do so because the people were looking at me and perhaps wondering why I was trying to avoid the smell. I just couldn't tell them it smelled awful at that area. 
The only place that made us breathe fresh air was at the mosque/tomb we visited. Just imagine, the place where dead people's bodies laid is much cleaner and health-friendly compared with the place where the living people reside.
What I Tasted
My first two days in Delhi made me starve -- literally. There were varieties of food at the hotel -- they looked wonderful and attractive but when I started eating, ( I even got a small serving for each of most of the dishes because I was curious about their food) I noticed that almost all the food tasted the same. I could taste curry powder in all the dishes. I have no term for the kind of herbs and spices used in the dishes but it made me wanna go back to the Philippines. Even the rice has spices and/or herbs. Many Indians are vegetarian and so most food are for vegetarian. At first, eating a vegetarian dish made me curious. I love vegetables -- really. However, I didn't realize that vegetarian dishes in Delhi were sprinkled with lots of spices and mixed with herbs. Oh no-- my mistake. I was thinking of vegetarian food as like buttered vegetables, or something like the Filipinos' kangkong dish or the Ilocano's papait with tomatoes and bagoong. I forgot I was not in Tarlac.
On our second night, my roommates bought some kind of food downtown. Here's what we've got. I don't know what they are called but I didn't like them. The fries and the bread were burned, the veggies tasted like curry powder. I couldn't understand the taste of spaghetti -- and couldn't even recognize it. But these kinds of food cost us almost 500 rupees.
Anyway, I had the chance to eat "proper food" -- for many, this is not proper food-- when we discovered McDonalds (but also offering vegetarian dishes) and KFC. Hurray! I particularly like the Mexican wrap at KFC at Connaught Place. KFC here in the Philippines doesn't have that. But before getting to McDonalds and KFC, we had to be contented with the nearest fast food we saw. Well, the food was okay -- it's name is Nirula's. They have good-tasting pizza and big burgers. Nice!
One more thing, even the drinking water tasted different to me. It seems like the drinking water has a distinct "after-taste" so we had to buy mineral water till the end of our trip.
What I Felt
Oh well, there were also Indians who were taking advantage of foreigners to earn money. Every day, when we take the rickshaw, we were charged with different amount. Some charged us 60 rupees, some 150 rupees, some 120 rupees. Then some of them would rudely tell us, we're three and if we pay 60 rupees, it's too low. Even when it was already raining and we didn't have umbrellas, we still had to "bargain" on fare because they tend to overcharge foreigners.
I felt so strange at first with what I saw, heard, smelled and tasted. The culture was really different from my culture. I didn't realize that being in another country, esp. in a non-Catholic country, is a challenge. Although I felt strange, I felt that the people were generally kind.
The taxi driver helped me find the hotel where I stayed without charging much. He even waited for me when I requested him to wait while I was buying some food from McDonalds. He was a driver, yes, but he spoke English fluently, and he was very polite so I gave him a meal from McDonalds aside from my taxi fare.
The taxi driver who dropped me off at the airport was also good. He was a driver, but he sounded educated and kind. In fact, on our way to the airport, I was able to talk to him and even learned a good deal about Indian culture from him. We talked about religion, education, government, Indian tradition, his family, and his business while he was driving. He also told me about Indira Gandhi and the Indian prime minister. This driver knows a lot about politics -- very good ! However, when I asked him if he knew the Minister for External Affairs of the government of India, he felt sorry that he didn't know him. [I'll tell you more about him on the next pages]
There was another guy in the phone shop who politely approached me and said, "May I ask a question?" He looked serious about asking so I told him, "Sure."
Then he asked, "What is your name?" (LOL). I just told him, "My name doesn't matter but It's my first time here in Delhi. Good to meet you." Then I left after saying bye. While some people were staring, this guy politely asked me about what he wanted to know. Perhaps he just wanted to start a conversation with me since for him, I was a foreigner, but I was not really interested in talking to strangers so I had to leave as fast as I could.
What I Learned from Delhi
I won't be surprised if the Indians who come to my home country would also not like what they would see here. Who could ever say they would like to see the slum areas in Quezon City or the red-light district in Fields Avenue in Angeles City? I can guess they would find it "offensive" to see ladies, some even of minor ages, in skimpy clothes walking at Fields Avenue with foreign nationals. This is what I see in Fields Avenue, and yet the past and present mayor of this city doesn't care much. Now, I realized, when foreigners go there, what would they think of this country? I bet you know the answer.
The point is, they won't really like what they might see in this side of the world.
One thing is for sure though: Culture differences are not supposed to widen gaps between and among people from different parts of the globe.
We might have different culture but all of us have the same senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. What I see, Indians can see; what I smell, they can smell; what I hear, they can absolutely hear; what I've tasted might just be the same as what they've tasted; and what I feel may not be different from how they feel.
We are made of same cells, same body systems -- the differences are just in our minds and in the meanings we assign to everything we can sense.
Indeed, senses don't lie, but our minds can deceive us.
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Writing Ended: July 21 @ 1:37 a.m.
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